Cheap Microsoft AutoRoute Europe 2006 (Software) (Windows 2000, Windows XP) Price

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Customer Reviews of Microsoft AutoRoute Europe 2006

I was spoiled by Streets and Trips USA!!
The bad news first: This program is not nearly as completely developed as its USA analog. It is, unfortunately, a work in progress. I wish it wasn't so but Microsoft has got a long way to go before AutoRoute Europe achieves the functionality and usefulness of Streets and Trips. First of all there are all sorts of streets and roads indicated that have no names whatsoever and no GPS coordinates. Map details are sadly lacking compared to Streets and Trips. Points of Interest are VERY significantly reduced compared to Streets and Trips. I had a difficult time rerouting trips. With Streets and Trips you can place new way points anywhere there is a road. With AutoRoute this is true of most major roads but not true of many of the unnamed roads. <
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>I got the impression that MS trotted this program out before it was fully implemented. And to tell you the truth, I'm glad they did. Despite its deficiencies it is still a quite good program, though it remains a work in progress. Ordinarily, when traveling through Europe I use Atlas' such as Euro Atlas with a 1:300,000 scale. IMO, this is the ideal scale necessary for European travel. With AutoRoute you can achieve a scale of approximately 1:2000 just as you can with Streets and Trips. The Euro Atlas still remains indispensable because the mapping details and scenic routs are more easily recognizable. AutoRoute is enormously useful, but don't get rid of your excellent road Atlas just yet. <
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>The GPS functionality is essentially the same as that in Streets and Trips though not nearly so well implemented. This program offers a truly affordable GPS guidance system for nearly all consumers while traveling through Europe. If you find yourself traveling to points unknown I cannot imagine a better solution for getting around than this product in conjunction with your notebook computer. <
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>Instantaneous panning, zooming in and zooming out, outstanding routing software, and a plethora of other features makes AutoRoute extremely user friendly. <
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>One problem I had, and hopefully this will help others who might encounter the same problem: Downloading the software into your computer does NOT automatically load the drivers for the GPS locater device! This must be done separately with the Setup disk when you first attach the locater device. Should you fail to put the Setup disk in and let your computer find the driver automatically ON THAT DISK, then your program will not recognize the locater! I wasted quite a bit of time trying to figure out what was wrong. If you don't add the drivers manually your device manager will automatically load drivers that will not be recognized by the program! I had to go into my Device Manager and uninstall the drivers that were added and then manually install the MS drivers for the GPS locater. Not an insurmountable problem, but it does require a bit of experience with computers. <
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>The included driver software turns your USB port into a pseudo-serial communication port enabling the software to recognize the locater (only serial ports are recognized by the software). The software will not recognize the locater UNLESS it is attached to a serial (or in this case pseudo-serial) communications port. So be careful and follow the installation instructions closely. The locater is made by Pharos GPS and if you have any installation problems go to their web site for further instructions. <
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>One other sad deficiency. No Eastern European countries are included with the software!! I realize that this is MS's first effort at this software, but major road in Eastern Europe should have been included. I'm sure future versions will include Eastern Europe as well as improving on the other deficiencies. While this ain't no Streets & Trips it is a great start and I look forward to future versions. <
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>If this program were being compared to Streets & Trips I would give it a 3 star rating, but since it is not a fully implemented program and because of the tremendous aid that it can provide I am going to give it a 4 star. I recommend this product with the caveats above, however be aware of the minor software and driver glitches I've described above. All in all, I think you will be VERY pleased.

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Europe Stops at Nothing....
MS did a typically technically masterful job of e-orientation in about a third of its Autoroute 2006 release. Being an enthusiastic (and unlost) user of MS Steets and Trips here in North America, and having lived and driven a long time in Europe, I looked forward to Autoroutes with anticipation. <
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> HOWEVER. On my Autoroute 2006 s/w, I can find lost corners from France to Flensburg, Germany- but one needs to hit the shoeleather or find local Michelin maps when crossing into much of what once was behind the Iron Curtain. Roads, streets, and even terrain blank out to pastel background with lots of named dots to connect by braille. <
> I think the Soviets must have taken Eastern Europe's roads with them when turning out the lights and departing. OR -is it a last, spiffy effort at Cold War 'dezinformatsy'a'? Surely, roads remain where much Slavic language is heard. <
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> Curiousest of all is the strange nighttime depictment of places (and dots), glowing like an old radar screen seeing, but whose young operators did not understand those incoming Pearl Harbor swarms. I had a nostalgic memory of my long-gone Apple IIC's little CRT's two colors... <
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> Great Try #1, guys. I hope the 2007 revision will allow me to motor in the mind from Krakow to Lvov or from Riga to St. Petersburg, etc., etc., etc, upon other than imagined macadam abounding with synaptic potholes. <
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> From D�sseldorf to Dieppe or from Bochum to Bizerte? Ya got it covered! <
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> Especially, buy this product if it comes bundled with an SUV. <
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> Steve Myers in PA

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Excellent !!!
I purchased this product to plan my trip to Europe, as well as to use it there along with my notebook and GPS receiver. <
>I was an user of Streets and Trips (the US/Canada version) of this product and the European version is just as good. I used Autoroute 2006 mostly in Germany and in the Netherlands. It was capable of guiding me all the way from Stuttgart to the hotel door in Amsterdaam. There are some add-ons one can find in the internet that makes a bit easier to zoom in/out or to force a route recalculation (like the S&T, Autoroute does not have automatic recalculation once you missed an exit). The Function keys are programed to perform actions and one can quickly change things without major disruption. The add-on is just a program running in the background, provided free of charge (ARKEYS.EXE). The voice direction is good, but the best feature is the progression bar that gives the driver a sense of how close he/she is to the next direction change. I do recommend this product to anyone that has a GPS "mouse" receiver (or bluetooth), a notebook computer and the need for GPS navigation.